COLOMBO - New Zealand plan to follow India's example by not letting rival bowlers dictate terms on their tour of Sri Lanka. We want to do what the Indians did to Australian spinners Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson in India recently, said Australian-born coach Steve Rixon on Sunday. The New Zealanders arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday to play a three-test series and later compete with the hosts and India in the independence cup one-day tournament.

Muthiah Muralitharan is no Shane Warne...he is a good bowler and we respect him. But at the end of the day he is not a world beater. We will take him on and if he succeeds then good luck to him, Rixon said. Don't let good bowlers dictate to you, that's my policy. That's probably the difference between the Indians and the rest of the world in taking on Shane Warne. Warne came in for some harsh treatment on Australia's tour of India earlier this year.

The New Zealanders arrived in Sri Lanka without Stephen Fleming who is in london attending an International Cricket Council (ICC) captains' meeting. In his absence all-rounder Chris Cairns will captain the side in the tour opener against a board president's X1 beginning in Colombo on Monday. Fleming is expected to join the team on Tuesday and play in the second three-day warm up game in Kandy on Friday.